Sustainability

Sustainability - our pledge

Read about our commitment to sustainability, the environment and tackling climate change.

Join with us in our efforts to combat the climate emergency.

What are we doing as a company?

  • Solar panels installed on our office; we export more than we use

    Electric van used where possible, charged by our panels

    Offer minibus transport for our clients

    Transition away from gas stoves

  • Volunteer days with Balmoral Estate Ranger Service

    Conservation residential with Mar Lodge Estate – National Nature Reserve

    Litter pick day at Bennachie

  • See our Trees for Life section below

  • Connect people with nature on all our events

    Be ambassadors for the outdoors

  • A golden rule for all of our activites

    Pick up any litter on the hills when we see it

Mar Lodge Conservation

Hillgoers Conservation Residential

In 2022 Hillgoers started to run conservation residentials on a Not-For-Profit basis with the National Trust for Scotland’s Mar Lodge Estate - National Nature Reserve. So far, our teams have planted trees, repaired / removed fences, collected botanicals, fixed sapling protectors and helped thin plantation woodlands.

In the heart of the Cairngorms, Mar Lodge Estate is one of the most important areas for nature conservation in the British Isles and in 2017 it was awarded National Nature Reserve status, making it the largest NNR in the UK. You will actively work on nature conservation projects, which are intrinsically linked to climate change prevention.

We are proud to support this initiative, you can read more about them here.

Hillgoers and Trees for Life

Hillgoers are proud to support Trees for Life to help offset our own carbon footprint. Trees for Life vision is of a revitalised wild forest in the Highlands of Scotland, providing space for wildlife to flourish and communities to thrive.

We purchased a Trees for Life grove in 2021 and will continue to support this going forward, with contributions from our event and clients. You can donate to our grove too.

Hillgoers Conservation Days

We appreciate us just being on the mountains and trails has an impact on the environment we all enjoy. To help offset the impact we have at least two volunteer days each year where members of the team will join up with a local ranger service. Would you like to join a conservation day with Hillgoers or perhaps let us help you with one for your organisation, get in touch.

A red deer stag with full set of antlers stands in front of lichen covered trees in the Cairngorms

Hillgoers and Leave No Trace

All of our Mountain Leaders are passionate about protecting and conserving our wild places. We are fully committed to the Leave No Trace initiative. If joining one of our events, please ensure all you leave are footprints and all you take are photographs.

Read more about Leave No Trace here

Read about Mountaineering Scotland’s minimal impact campaign

Hillgoers Climate Emergency Declaration

As an outdoor activity provider, we are continuously watching the weather forecasts and trends in weather patterns. What is obvious when looking at trends, and following the science, is our climate is changing and our future activities will likely change too. For example, snow in the Cairngorms will become more unpredictable and less frequent, meaning habitat loss for some of our rare loved species.

Hillgoers and our sister company Wild Scottish Weddings have signed up to Tourism Declares, an initiative that supports tourism businesses, organisations and individuals in declaring a climate emergency and taking purposeful action to reduce their carbon emissions as per the advice from The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to cut global carbon emissions to 55% below 2017 levels by 2030.

Please consider also declaring at www.tourismdeclares.com, and follow on @tourismdeclares on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin.